Search This Blog

Kathy, (aka "Bessie"), and I began our beekeeping experience in the fall of 2008, when we began a year-long course in beekeeping through the Indian Creek Nature Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. We got our first package of bees in April of 2009. At the suggestion of our daughter, Jessica, we are logging our beekeeping experience. Hope you find it interesting. It has been interesting, rewarding and entertaining for us as well.

Record High

Just a quick note: sixty-one degrees (16 degrees C) on January 5th--shattering the old record of 54 degrees (12 C)! Of course, the bees were really flying from both hives. It is expected to be warm again today, though not quite as warm but above average temps for the next week. The "normal" average temperature for this time of year is about 11 degrees F (-12 C). Again, this probably means they will be consuming their stores even more than during colder winters, so I will really have to look at early spring feeding.

Get link

Facebook

Twitter

Pinterest

Google+

Email

Other Apps

Comments

Jim and Kathy,I am really enjoying watching your videos. You look like pros to me. I am considering starting a hive--my first attempt ever at beekeeping, in my back yard in a suburb of st. louis. i know nothing about this, and wonder how and where to start. a course would be great, but I am too impatient to wait for 3-6 months before I start. Suggestions?My (ex)wife of 26 years, is from Marion, and her Dad owned Stickney's Scoreboard until selling it 20 years ago or so. I have hunted many a pheasant in your neck of the woods.Grant

Grant, thanks for your nice words. Beekeeping is great fun, but can be challenging. I strongly encourage you, if you're interested, in seeking out a local beekeeping club, attend their meetings, and also likely find a local person to serve as a mentor/resource, and also read the forums on beesource.com--a lot of good info there.Good luck, and I'd be glad to offer my 2 cents worth any time if you have questions.Jim

Some eastern Missouri organizations worth looking into:http://www.easternmobeekeepers.com/http://threeriversbeekeepers.com/Both offer classes for beginners. Also, here is the link to the state organization:http://mostatebeekeepers.org/

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

This is a follow-up to my last post. Thanks to Barbara Beekeeper, whose blog I follow, I've now learned that the bad odor we experienced each of the past two autumns is not caused by the coincidental appearance of the wax worms but by one of the most abundant fall bloomers--goldenrod. When the goldenrod honey is curing in the hive, it gives off odors that can be quite strong and seemingly have a different effect on different people. After reading Barbara's account, I did a bit more research and found that a number of people mistake the odor for American Foul Brood, and tear their hives apart fearing to find the evidence that would indicate they needed to destroy their hives. Others liken the smell to smelly, wet socks (or feet), while others note the odor but don't find it unpleasant. In our experience, the odor is a sickly, sweet but sour smell, quite strong. Apparently, there are a number of varieties of goldenrod which could account for variance in the way peo…

We went out yesterday to take a look at the hives since it was edging above 40 degrees. I wanted to see how many were flying and pull out the tray on each to check them. Bees were flying, more from the newer hive. In hive #1, though, when I pulled out the tray I noticed right away some small black particles. They appeared to be a couple millimeters long and segmented. They were located in the same part of the board as the cappings that have dropped through between several frames. Each time I examine the boards, the cappings are confined to a couple long strips from between several frames. The particles weren't located generally around on the board, and this is the first time I've seen this. My first thought was mouse droppings, but they appeared to be segmented in 3 or 4 segments. Then I considered eggs of some kind. Unfortunately, I cleaned off the boards and I didn't save them yesterday but did go out and take some photos and collect some today.
In the first ph…

In trying to decide how to go about removing the bees from the frames when we go to harvest the honey, we looked at options such as the fume board, brushing, blowing or shaking bees off the frames, or using a bee escape. We've chosen to try the last option. The fume boards work quickly, but we didn't like the thought of "fumigating" our bees or the honey. My experience with brushing bees off the frames has been that it does not make them very happy. I like to keep them happy. So we decided to go with the bee escape method.
There are a number of bee escapes available commercially and there are also plans for building a variety of bee escapes. Most of the commercial bee equipment outlets sell a simple bee escape that is oblong in shape and fits in the opening of a standard inner cover. It allows the bees to move from the honey super to the hive body below. These are quite inexpensive, costing only a couple dollars. You can also buy, from Dadant, a board which i…